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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25898068">Dark Lords and Their Parent-Murdering Habits</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimeShadow_01/pseuds/TimeShadow_01'>TimeShadow_01</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Baby Harry Potter, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff, Fun ball games with dark lords, Gen, Globe-Coaster, I’d say this counts as kidnapping, Kidfic, Kidnapping, Master of Death Harry Potter, Murder, Nurmengard, Obscurial Harry Potter, Rebirth, a bit cracky</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 12:01:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,481</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25898068</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimeShadow_01/pseuds/TimeShadow_01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry Potter has met many Dark Lords in his time as Master of Death. This time, He’s an infant again, and Grindelwald finds himself shocked.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gellert Grindelwald &amp; Harry Potter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>210</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1028</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Gellert wins the jackpot on the Wild Encounter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>From an idea I had ages ago because the Obscurus clouds in the movie looked kind of death-shaped to me, and also because I’ve never seen any Harry-Grindelwald interaction and I like the concept.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Harry wasn’t sure what it was with Dark Lords and killing his parents, but at this point it had happened too many damn times to be purely accidental. Probably Fate fucking with him, as usual. True, it was only the fourth time it’d happened, but that was at least two times too many. But unfortunately he’d grown rather used to it, so he merely gave a great internal world-weary sigh when he heard the small commotion from the other room. He spared a sad thought to mourn for his parents of this life, a lovely French couple living in an old but fancy family apartment recently inherited from some cousins, before placing his toy horse (which reminded him far too much of his sister from his eighth life for his comfort) down with a disgruntled glare. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There were voices from the other room, someone talking about one thing or another, that grew closer as Harry attempted to maneuver his pudgy two-year-old body closer to the very large window behind him to lean against, cloudy afternoon sunlight slinking through the half-closed curtains to shine on his hair. A reflection of himself in the window caught the corner of his eye, and he resolved to lose weight later so he doesn’t end up looking </span>
  <em>
    <span>too</span>
  </em>
  <span> much like Dudley. At least he kept his peculiarly green eyes, as always, which matched the color of the letter M in his collection of letter blocks. The stack lay halfway across the room, scattered mostly underneath his wooden toy box. It wasn’t really very far, especially for someone as powerful as he was, but his core couldn’t handle wandless magic (it could hardly be called </span>
  <em>
    <span>accidental</span>
  </em>
  <span> magic if he’d been doing it on purpose, can it) very well at such a young age- it was simply too small to hold all of that magic in, especially </span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span> special flavor of magic. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maybe that’s why he kpt getting reincarnated as an Obscurial. It would certainly fit a few theories of his. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Speaking of obscurials, Harry wass just about ready to set his plan in motion. He’d asked Death if he could pretty-please-with-sugar-on-top be put in a place where he might be able to meet the famous Dark Lord Gellert Grindelwald, simply to feed some of his curiosity. After all, he was a Ravenclaw or the equivalent three times, four if you count his house-hopping life nine. Or was it life eleven? Doesn’t matter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Harry focused his wandering brain on the toybox across from him, took a big, deep breath, and shifted. It wasn’t painful like the werewolf transformation or anything, less body structure shifting and more… flowing into it, with a lot more disorientation as he adjusted to not having a body. He was definitely not the biggest or most powerful he could get, most of it held off until his magical majority when his body and magical core can handle more power, but it was enough to darken the room a fair bit. Harry scooted most of his mass under the toybox, and waited. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He didn’t have to wait long. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The talking stopped as soon as he shifted, the wizards in the other room, or at least Grindelwald, having sensed the powerful magic. Harry was poking at the blocks and quietly pushing them around when the door opened, a large blond man taking slow and careful steps into the room. He exuded a powerful aura of magic, spreading throughout the room and trying to find him. It focused on him under the box, strange yet powerful. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come out, </span>
  <em>
    <span>kleines kind,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” the man- Grindelwald, it had to be Grindelwald, he’d eat his wand if it wasn’t- said in a quiet and calm voice. He stopped just in front of the toybox, staring at it as if he might be able to see through it and straight to Harry’s soul. Harry was silent for a minute, maybe two, unwilling to submit so quickly. Slowly, slowly, ever so slowly, he began to nudge a bright blue N block and a pale cream O block out to face Grindelwald in his stead. He liked his toybox, thank you very much. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Grindelwald’s eyes widened, then furrowed a bit. He saw glimpses of Harry, enough to see a bit of the smoke appendages pushing the blocks out to him. Harry waited for a reaction. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There’s no need to fear. I won't harm you, I promise.” Grindelwald soothed in English, crouching down to get a better look at the box and possibly attempt to be less intimidating. Harry was unimpressed. But his current plan relied on cooperation with the man, so he grabbed a small ball that had rolled under there ages ago and gently pushed it towards him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Grindelwald stared at the ball as it meandered out, bumping into the letter blocks on its way. It stopped next to his shoe and he reached down to pick it up. The most wanted man in Europe picked up the tiny red ball and inspected it like it might hold the secrets to the universe. Harry found the situation quite hilarious- watching a Dark Lord fumble around in confusion was always fun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Harry began to spread  himself out under other nearby furniture, shifting to surround most of the room unseen. Grindelwald paused for a few more seconds before gently rolling the ball back under the toybox. Harry picked it up, considered it, and then rolled it back out again- only this time from under the dresser right next to the toybox. Grindelwald paused, eyebrows becoming increasingly furrowed, and rolled the ball under Harry’s toybox again. This time, Harry decided to make things more interesting and rolled the ball from under the crib on the other side of the room. Grindelwald whirled around when it bounced against his shoe again, letting out a softly amused breath.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This game continued for a couple of rounds, Grindelwald steadily rolling the ball towards various objects and further and further from the wall until eventually it came to a stop a few inches in front of the crib. Harry heaved a great inaudible sigh and gathered himself under said crib, taking a moment to roll his nonexistent eyes before slowly creeping out to surround the ball. He didn’t stop there though, gathering himself in a small but dense cloud hovering just above it. He allowed himself to loosen up a bit, stretching upwards as if curious about the Dark Lord. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” he breathed, confusion and something like awe in his voice. “Credence...? No, you’re someone else, aren’t you?” Harry calmly floated up towards him as he crouched down to get closer. Just as he started to extend a hand, Harry gathered himself together and solidified until Grindelwald was left with a sudden lapful of infant.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Grindelwald was distinctly surprised at finding out this random new Obscurial was, in fact, a child barely old enough to walk. He inspected Harry closely, smoothing down the small tufts of hair on his head as he reached up to touch Grindelwald as if curious. Harry gave him a few minutes to sort through his shock at the discovery before giving a small giggle as he patted Grindelwald’s cheek, effectively focusing his attention from Harry’s Obscurial status and what that will mean for his plans to Harry himself. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re a </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> big surprise, young one,” he said, hoisting Harry more into his arms as he stood up. Harry didn’t respond of course, except to let out a little giggle and stuff his fingers in his mouth as he rested his head against Grindelwald’s chest. Normally acting like this would rankle something in him, but right then he was a two-year-old and didn't particularly care. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Harry started to feel tired in this position, cursing his now-dead French parents for getting him too sleep by holding him like this, especially as Grindelwald began to pat his head and lightly hum a little tune. Harry would find the concept of a Dark Lord soothing an infant to sleep more funny, except he was already feeling tired and his eyes began to close. He had just enough consciousness to register the Dark Lord bringing him into another room with other people before he fully passed out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was mostly sure things would turn out okay that time around. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Mostly.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. If he’s in a castle does that make him a princess?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Harry meets two new friends</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Wow I can’t believe I actually wrote this that fast</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Harry had been housed in a fancy, snowy, ominous castle in the middle of the mountains somewhere for a few weeks now, and he was finding himself not as bored as he thought he would be. He had a whole room to himself, and delighted in turning into his Obscurial form to sneak out the window and into the kitchens. He was aware he’d grown into somewhat of a hedonist in his time, but he really did have to enjoy freshly made food, especially after lives 15 and 8. He also enjoyed taking that form and then hovering around Gellert’s shoulders to give him a suitably ominous aura whenever he was around other members of his Wizard Nazi group. It was pretty funny to watch their expressions when they realized just what exactly their leader had hanging off his shoulders like a docile kneazle. </p><p> </p><p>Speaking of his Wizard Nazi group, Harry was privy to a lot of their plans (people tended to be less careful about what secret plans they discussed around babies, even babies that were also magical creatures), and was thus able to learn that while Gellert had not given up on trying to sway Credence to his side, he was focusing more of his effort on Harry. This was fairly good for Harry’s plans which were very complicated and very detailed and <em> definitely </em> not made up on the spot and entirely motivated by curiosity. He takes pride in his Slytherin thinking, dammit, and will not be made a fool of!</p><p> </p><p>But other than that, Harry was almost startled at how well he was being taken care of. Gellert (and he’s basically raising Harry, of course he refers to him by his first name in his internal monologues) was a surprisingly good father-figure for a Dark Lord. Of course Harry knew that he was doing his best to chum up to him mostly so as to manipulate him better, but he was still a nicer guardian than he’d ever had in the wizarding universes. Despite the need for nannies or babysitters in the form of his subordinates every once in a while, he always took the time to hang out with little Harry whenever he could. Sometimes these sessions involved teaching and bonding with him and sometimes Harry would simply sit near him as he did paperwork and such. Oftentimes he would have Harry play with him in his Obscurial form, his interest in Obscurials as a whole and in Harry especially prompting extensive research.</p><p> </p><p>In fact, Harry was also having fun frustrating Gellert on how, exactly, he was such an in-control Obscurial. He hadn’t made any connection between Harry and the Hallows yet, which <em> phew </em> , but he’d had a few close calls keeping it a secret. (Like that time he’d nearly tripped down the stairs and the Invisibility Cloak had bundled him up  and carried him straight to his crib. Or that time he’d <em> really </em> wanted a pie and the Elder Wand had cast a pie-summoning spell by itself, startling Gellert who had been next to it in his study at the time. Or that time… yeah, the Hallows were frustratingly babying to him. They always were a little bit, but Harry suspected Death was purposefully exaggerating it this time.)</p><p> </p><p>Harry was having a good time in the castle otherwise. He was having such a good time, in fact, that he hardly noticed the new people until he found them chatting with Gellert near his giant fancy globe, after Gellert had been gone for some sort of trip for a while. The giant fancy globe, which was at least as big as Gellert himself, was a live map of the world, with sections of magic concentration highlighted by glowing lights. It hung suspended by magic near the large windows and spun in place. One of Harry’s favorite games has to turn into his Obscurus form, flatten himself onto one side of the globe, and ride it like an extremely low-budget roller coaster, which is what he was doing right then. He managed almost four rotations before he was spotted, signalled by the conversation coming to an abrupt stop and the eyes of the visitors widening.</p><p> </p><p>“There you are, little one,” he called over, smiling a bit in amusement as Harry moved in the opposite direction as the globe’s rotation to keep himself on the side facing Gellert, like a hamster running on the outside of the ball. “Come meet your new friends,” he said, and Harry pushed off the globe and meandered over through the air. Not that he was doing it because he was told to, of course. He did it entirely because he was curious and for absolutely no other reason, and definitely not because he liked the soft head pats he got when he solidified in Gellert’s arms.</p><p> </p><p>“This is Kindetoditt,” Gellert introduced, and Harryhad to restrain himself from cringing at the name (Death was<em> definitely </em> laughing at him for it) as he turned his head around enough to level a supremely unimpressed look at the two new people’s shocked faces. One of them in particular, a teenage boy who could probably do with a couple of meals in the sunshine to combat his ‘starved Victorian child’ vibe, reached a hesitant hand out towards Harry.</p><p> </p><p>“Is he…?” The other person, a woman, asked in a hushed tone, and Gellert nodded in affirmation. Harry didn’t much care, instead reaching out a chubby little hand of his own to meet the boy’s. Of course, with his short reach he just barely managed to slap the hand a little while almost falling out of Gellert’s grip, but a wide smile (carefully calculated and practiced on many adults and a couple of house elves) helps it add to his ‘I’m an adorable toddler’ charm.</p><p> </p><p>Harry barely registers Gellert’s affirmative response as he shifts into his Obscurial form again, floating over to Victorian Boy who takes a couple staggering steps backwards and looks like his eyes are going to bug out of his head. Harry can sense something from him, a sort of almost-familiarity that has him making a sound that’s as close to purring as he can get.</p><p> </p><p>“He’s like you, Credence,” Gellert adds as Harry shifts around and through Credence’s fingers, “he’s practically your brother.” And Harry knows what he’s trying to do, knows that he’s trying to get Victorian Boy attached to Harry and thus more firmly on his side for his Evil Nazi Plans, but he’s having so much fun chewing on the ends of his (disappointingly short) hair that he’s not really paying attention. In fact he’s having so much fun that he decides to park himself right on top of Credence’s head and completely ignore his unsettledness.</p><p> </p><p>He also realizes he may be acting more like a kneazle than he planned, but he will <em> not </em> admit it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hey!! Just fyi, I mostly got the original idea while watching Crimes of Grindelwald, but I haven’t seen it since then so apologies to the probably ten other people who have seen it if I get facts &amp; such wacked up! I’m keeping this story as mostly crack, a bit crack treated seriously for that reason. Also for that reason I have no idea who the lady with Credence is, she’s either snake lady or Newt’s girlfriend lady, I think. Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter. I wasn’t planning to make any more of this until ya’ll started commenting, so any suggestions for more Dad-lewald content would be greatly appreciated.</p><p>Another note: the name Klindetoditt is one I completely made up on my own. I absolutely do NOT know German. I used Google Translate to come up with Klind (baby) and Tod (Death), and slapped them together with an -itt on the end for extra Baby.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Snow Days of Winter (and every other season- they’re in the mountains)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>One of Harry’s favorite things about being holed up in a random mountain castle in the middle of nowhere was the copious amounts of snow. Not only was it fun to make things out of, or to push pockets of off the roof and onto the heads of unexpecting passersby, it was fun to shift around in it as an obscurial. That form already ran at a much lower temperature than normal so the snow’s own coldness didn’t bother him much, and it felt nice to dig around in. It was also the closest he could get to swimming because usually water started to freeze when he got in it, which was especially difficult during bathtime. It was a big frustration for Gellert, who often resorted to magic instead, despite Harry’s apparent joy at baths (he’s really more amused by the hilariously domestic image Gellert made of a Dark Lord with his sleeves rolled up over a sink as he washed a baby).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, Harry’s not really allowed outside of the castle grounds despite them being in the middle of nowhere- something about ‘getting lost’ and being a ‘dangerous magical creature’ and other such complete nonsense. He probably wouldn’t get lost, the castle’s the only thing for miles!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But, alas, his Dad-lewald was much too (is possessive the right word? protective?) protective to let him outside anywhere other than the big eastern courtyard. It’s big, and pretty, and it’s got a nice decorative pillar in the middle, and most importantly, tended to get buried in lots and lots of snow. This can make it hard to get out to sometimes, but Harry didn’t really care about the snow falling in through the doorway as he made his way up and out, bounding around the snowtop like an excited puppy. He even left little tracks in the snow as he ran along and almost-successfully didn't smash into walls.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he paused in his romping and frolicking at the top of the pillar, he took notice of Gellert watching him from an open second story window overlooking the snowy courtyard that’s less than a meter above the top of the snow. He’s watching Harry with a very serious face and probably ruminating ominously like the Dark Lord he was, which activated Harry’s childish instincts to Mess Shit Up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gellert had approximately three seconds to wonder where the little monster disappeared to before he was unceremoniously defenestrated by a gleeful mass of darkness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>To the child’s disappointment he landed on his feet with barely a stumble despite being tugged out headfirst, and he had his wand out and a containing bubble charm cast around Harry before he could do more than let out a screeching squawk of indignation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Must you always play your games like this, little one?” Gellert admonished with a sigh as he dusted some of the snow off of his pant legs and adjusted his jacket. Harry grumbled because they’re not </span>
  <em>
    <span>games</span>
  </em>
  <span>, they’re all part of a </span>
  <em>
    <span>very serious</span>
  </em>
  <span> plan so of course it’s all </span>
  <em>
    <span>completely necessary</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He shifted back into his pouting human form to tell him just that, but of course he couldn’t speak very well yet and what came out was more along the lines of “Itz vewy nececessassary!” Than what he was going for. This made Gellert give an involuntary smile as he floated the bubble over, popping it as Harry came into reach so the child would just fall into his arms. Harry allowed it, but turned his nose up and stuck his tongue out at him like the very mature person he was. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You should come back inside before you catch a cold,” Gellert said, to which Harry gave an indignant gasp and an angry wiggle in his grip. “No? You want to stay out here in the dreadful snow?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Snow!” Harry said as if it explained everything (which it definitely did), pointing at the ground for emphasis. I mean, it’s snow! How could Gellert not want to play in it? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah, I see,” Gellert nodded sagely, and Harry smiled at having made his point, despite knowing he was probably just patronizing him. He squirmed in his guardian’s hold, resorting to shifting to his Obscurus in order to escape and dive in a small snow pile. His child’s head popping out of the snow with a delighted expression.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Snow!” He said again, just to make doubly sure his point ahd come across, and then he got to work picking up clumps of snow and trying to form snowballs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gellert was, by this point, standing against the pillar in the middle of the yard just a bit away. He had a journal out, one he’d been writing his observations of Harry in, and was in just the perfection position for Step 7 of Harry’s Brilliant Plan™. Harry would amass as many projectiles as possible, attack the Dark Lord with them, and then begin Step 8.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Unfortunately, he had forgotten to factor in the fact that his body wasn’t yet used to the type of coordination needed to make quality snowballs, so he’d only managed to make seven snowballs that resembled spheres enough to be usabe ammunition. This would be fine, except he also hadn’t realized that he wouldn’t be able to throw very well, and his first shot landed barely a quarter meter away. The second attempt managed to land just beyond it, but the third went straight up and landed on Harry’s head, to which he let out an indignant squawk. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By attempt five Harry had mostly given up, instead crawling close enough that he ended up just hitting Gellert’s leg with the snowball instead. Gellert apparently found Harry’s actions and upset frown entertaining enough to let out a grin and a small chuckle, using his wand to create a small snowball and float it over to lightly hit the child in the side. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No!” Harry exclaimed, taking snowball #6 and hitting Gellert with it in retaliation. What followed had to be the slowest, gentlest snowball fight ever seen, but what had to be most entertaining was that the toddler managed to win against the Dark Lord with a last toss of one of the adult’s on snowballs directly onto his hip.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After that last shot Gellert put his journal away and picked Harry back up, turning the toddler around a bit and checking on his fingers and toes to make sure they weren’t too cold from the snow. “It’s time for your nap,” Gellert said, and Harry acquiesced with a yawn, if only because he had just been very busy besting the Dark Lord in a fight. He leaned his head against Gellert’s shoulder as his eyes started to close, feeling the adult’s hand gently rubbing his back as he slowly drifted off to sleep.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Step 7, completed.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hmm, I wonder what Harry’s plan could be 🤔 what do you guys think?</p><p>(Also, the chapters have titles now! Yay!)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Run, Baby, Run (Or At Least Walk)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Harry needs to work out his muscles more</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Harry stared back at the man across the room from him. Gellert Grindelwald, his kidnapper/Adult In Charge of Him, was looking at him very intently while trying to keep his frown from deepening. He looked tired, the bags under his eyes heavy and his hair in a state of minor disarray. Which made sense considering they’d been at this for a while now, and that Harry wasn’t making anything easy on him.</p><p> </p><p>“Kindetoditt,” Gellert started, and Harry snapped back to paying attention to him. He knew that tone of voice. That was his no-nonsense, I-am-a-Dark-Lord-and-if-you-don’t-stop-your-tomfuckery-I’m-going-to-confiscate-your-toys tone of voice. Harry had been subjected to it many times before and thus knew it was usually accompanied by some time in the time-out corner.</p><p> </p><p>“Kindetoditt, let’s make a deal,” Gellert was saying. Harry tilted his head at him in curiosity, absentmindedly chewing at the blue ‘D’ block in his hand. “If you walk over here, right now, I’ll take us out on a little trip.“ And Harry would have laughed at the Dark Lord having to bargain with a child, but...</p><p> </p><p>See, Harry had a bit of a problem. Being an immortal being who could transform into a flying creature at will was great, he guessed, but there was one big problem with being born able to do it. It meant that instead of waiting to learn to walk around again like a normal child he simply did a quick shift and flew where he wanted. Normally he’d have to learn eventually simply by virtue of not wanting to get caught as an obscurial by any concerned adults, but because in this life his now-guardian both already knew and more than fully approved of his transformation, he’d grown rather… lax in his mobility education.</p><p> </p><p>And Gellert had noticed. And decided it was a problem he was going to rectify. And taken Harry away from his Throw-Snowballs-At-People time in order to do so. Needless to say, Harry was not the happiest of campers.</p><p> </p><p>But Gellert had just promised him they’d be able to go out somewhere, and as delightful as it was to throw snow at people it <em> did </em> get rather boring eventually. So Harry placed his saliva-wet block down, nodded imperiously at his guardian, and got to work trying to walk.</p><p> </p><p>Standing up wasn’t as much of a problem- he could even do it without leaning against the wall now after months of trying to reach the counter where the cookie jar had been warded against magic, including a sort of working ward that could hold off a mischievous obscurial long enough for someone to come yell at him for sneaking treats.</p><p> </p><p>So Harry could stand up perfectly fine on his own, but it was just the next step he was having trouble with. His brows furrowed in intense concentration and a bit of annoyance as he moved one shaky infant step forwards, more sliding the little socked foot along the wooden floor than actually taking a step. He successfully moved to take another step, and he could practically hear the grin in Gellert’s voice as he said, “Well done, Kindetoditt! You’re doing so very well.”</p><p> </p><p>Harry barely had time to look up from his feet and give his dad a wide proud smile before his socks lost their grip on the floor and Harry slipped and slammed head first into the floor. </p><p> </p><p>The following five minutes were filled with an angry toddler’s banshee-like screeches of pain and outrage and the sounds of frantic shushing of Gellert as he tried to find some toy to calm the child down. Eventually he gave in and cast a muffliato charm as he picked the child up in his arms. Harry decided to ineffectually punch Gellert in the arm with his stubby little baby arms to vent his frustrations and indignancy at being thus silenced. Luckily Gellert, who then may have been sporting a light bruising in his shoulders, did the smart thing and summoned Harry’s favorite toy to calm him down, a blue stuffed bear named Mr. Yellow whose head had been magically replaced by Harry’s red D block months earlier due to some ‘accidental’ magic.</p><p> </p><p>Gellert let out a sigh of relief as Harry calmed down. He kept holding the child in his arms, rocking him slightly as he sat down in the big chair at his desk. Harry was very focused on chewing on the head of the toy (he had to make sure it knew his opinion of it every chance he got) and so it took him a while to notice that Gellert was staring at him.</p><p> </p><p>“Wha?” Harry asked.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re a little monster, you know that?” Gellert responded, an almost fond smile on his face. Excellent, he was attached  to Harry now.</p><p> </p><p>“No!” Harry said in offended outrage, raising a hand to lightly bap him on the nose.</p><p> </p><p>“You are, little one. You’re a ferocious beast, one who will win the war for me,” Gellert insisted with a sharper grin on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Harry had to frown and scrunch up his nose at that. “No war,” he insisted. “We go on a trip now?” He insisted instead, and Gellert’s sharp smile softened into something less vicious at that.</p><p> </p><p>“Of course Kindetodiit,” Gellert said, and Harry let a happy grin overtake his face. “Just as soon as you manage a few more steps, of course.”</p><p> </p><p>Harry’s indignant “Hey!” and the ensuing laughter was audible from many corridors down the castle</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>At least he came already potty-trained</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Bedtime Stories with a Wizard Nazi</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Grindelwald tries to get his little hellion to go to sleep so he can actually get some work done for once.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was a lovely night in Castle Nurmengard, and Harry was a horrible child.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But I do’n wanna sleep!” The toddler’s upset shrieks echoed throughout the halls of the castle, causing many a bird to fly away in indignation at having their peaceful sleep disturbed. He’d already been under the care of Gellert Grindelwald for about a year, which meant he was three years old and old enough to be upset about bedtime. Plus he’d found an interesting book he’d been wanting to secretly read, before Gellert had decided to make sure he was actually sleeping this time (which certainly had nothing to do with the time he’d accidentally taken a nap while in his Obscurial form several meters above the snowy ground.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gellert leveled the toddler with a supremely unimpressed look, raising an eyebrow while letting out an exasperated sigh. Harry wilted a bit- maybe he was getting a bit too into his role as a child, but in his defense, being able to scream at things without getting in too much trouble is fun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I do’n wanna sleep,” Harry repeated more quietly, crossing his arms in a little pout and turning in the bed to face away from the Dark Lord. “‘M not tired.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gellert sat down on the large chair that was sat next to Harry’s bed, leaning down a bit so he was closer to the toddler’s eye level. “And what if I told you a story?” The man asked patiently. Harry contemplated the offer; Gellert had told him bedtime stories before, of course, and while mostly they were common wizarding children’s stories- the tale of Death and the Three Brothers was common, which Harry thought was hilarious- sometimes he would tell a bit of his life in story form.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a few minutes of thinking, Harry relaxed his crossed arms and turned to face Gellert a bit more. “What kind of story?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gellert smiled, knowing he had got his attention. “It’s a story of a powerful prince, a foolish knight, and the fate of a kingdom.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Once upon a time, in a kingdom not so far away, there lived a king and a knight. The king and the knight had grown up together, the knight vowing to protect and serve the prince. The king, who was very magically powerful, had in turned vowed to protect the kingdom from the evil Muggles who were attacking the poor subjects of the kingdom.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Harry had to hold back a snort and a smile- barely five seconds in and he was already pushing that anti-muggle propaganda at him again. He did it every time, of course, and if Harry were an actual three-year-old he would have thought of Muggles as something like particularly dumb tigers- a threat, and yet far below wizards- but luckily he was not.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“One day, the knight knelt before the king. He had been gone for a while, off fighting in the war. Before he left he had sworn a vow to the king, one to always love and never fight him, and this was how the king knew something was wrong with his knight.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“‘My lord, we must stop fighting the Muggles,’ said the knight. ‘They are peaceful beasts, and will stop attacking us if we let them have what they want.’ This was when the king knew- he had been in contact with the muggles, who had managed to twist his mind against the king. The knight's vow would not allow him to go against the king, so he merely decided to send him away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“‘I know that you love me’, said the king, ‘and I know that you love magic. I will not give the muggles what they want, for what they want is complete destruction of this kingdom, but for those reasons I will allow you to leave instead.’ And so the knight was banished from the kingdom before he could cause its ruin, and the king was left ruling alone.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Harry stared raptly at Gellert, snuggling down into the blankets on his bed. The story was blatantly anti-muggle, and the characters so obviously Gellert and Dumbledore, that Harry was struggling a bit with not laughing. “But that’s a sad ending. What happened to the king?” he asked instead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He ruled the kingdom well, until eventually he found someone precious to him- a beautiful and powerful fae who would help him protect the kingdom where the knight could not.” Gellert smiled, leaning down to pat Harry on the head. The child let out an involuntary yawn, much more tired than he expected to be after the story. Must be the young body.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s late, little one. Go to sleep,” Gellert said. Harry yawned again in response.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay… jus’ a little bit.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gellert stood up and walked to the door, dimming the candles in the room with a casual wave of his wand. Enchanted stars started softly glowing on the large domed ceiling of the enchanted room as he did so. “Goodnight, little fae,” he said softly from the doorway before closing it with a near-silent thud.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Harry yawned before closing his eyes and snuggling down, finally letting himself have one last snort at the Dark Lord’s ridiculous idea of what constituted a bedtime story. Well, too be fair, it could have been worse.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It could have been about the New York Obscurial incident.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Wow, I just checked and apparently there’s  some 97 bookmarks, 400+ kudos and 3600+ hits??? I don’t know why but thanks for that guys, it’s really appreciated ❤️<br/>Also, don’t judge Grindelwald too much on how bad the bedtime story was- he made it up on the spot while running on about two hours of sleep.</p><p>(Special mention to user MobCharacter who bookmarked this, like, five seconds before I posted the new chapter. That’s some nice luck there, bud)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Making Friends (AKA Harry stalks his brother to try and reaffirm their friendship)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Harry first noticed it when Gellert left Credence in charge of looking after Harry while he was gone for a small three-day trip. Harry and Credene’s few interactions, while usually fairly hilarious and ending in Credence being more and more befuddled, had become very few and far between lately.</p><p> </p><p>It wasn’t that Harry had been avoiding Credence. Quite the opposite, actually- it was Credence who had been avoiding him. Harry expected it had something to do with their last interaction, where a great plan involving Harry, two birds, and a large jar of mayonnaise had ended with Credence upside down and waist-deep in the snow for longer than was probably safe. Harry suspected he might have to mend his relationship with the boy sooner rather than later, especially if what he’d heard from those particular little birds had been accurate.</p><p> </p><p>Harry first tried to talk with the older boy in the main playroom on day one of Gellert’s vacation. Harry was playing with a toy train set in the middle of the room (the tracks could float, and the train was charmed to move by itself or by Harry’s direction, and to be child-safe), casting occasional looks at Credence, who was working at a desk underneath a large window on the side of the room. He was working on assignments from a first year defense textbook- one assigned by Gellert who had said that, just because Credence couldn’t technically cast magic, didn’t mean he shouldn’t be educated.</p><p> </p><p>Harry kept sending Credence looks, until he tired of waiting for Credence to respond and decided to take initiative. With a bit of effort he managed to stand up on his own, taking unsteady but surer footsteps toward the older boy. After two minutes and three minor falls (the floor was also charmed to be soft and baby-proof, luckily) he finally reached him. Harry grabbed onto the boy’s pant leg to get his attention, making him startle.</p><p> </p><p>“Cree’nce!” Harry said, cursing the way his baby mouth was unable to properly pronounce words as he patted Credence’s leg reassuringly. “Hi.”</p><p> </p><p>Credence gave Harry a tightlipped smile, picking Harry up and into his lap. “Hello there,” he said, patting Harry’s hand. ”What are you up to?”</p><p> </p><p>“I wann’ed say hi,” Harry informed him in the odd slight mix of English and German he’d fallen into use around him. “We don’ talk a lot. You talk a lot with daddy, and I talk a lot with daddy, but I don’ talk a lot with you.”</p><p> </p><p>Credence’s face softened, gently bouncing Harry’s arm up and down a little. “Okay then, Klinde,” he replied in English. “Thank you for saying hello to me, then. But I have to get back to studying. Okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“Fine,” Harry pouted, shifting into his Obscurial and floating away. He didn’t miss the paling in Credence’s face, or the way he turned away from him quickly.</p><p> </p><p>Harry didn’t think that Credence hated him or anything. He suspected his hang ups were a mix of apprehension from Harry’s own oddness, and a bit of projected fear of his own Obscurial. You couldn’t just get rid of years’ worth of pain and fear overnight, afterall. Harry was certain that, if he could just manage to have a thorough chat with the older boy, he would accept Harry better. He already was fairly protective of him, it was just a matter of putting that in the right environment.</p><p> </p><p>So it was that Harry found himself in his Obscurial form, floating outside the window to Credence’s room. </p><p> </p><p>He’d tried the door, of course, but doors are surprisingly difficult to open without obliterating them while you’re a giant gaseous ball of malice, and infants aren’t well known for their door-opening or -knocking skills. So instead, he’d decided to simply fly in through the window in his Obscurial form. It was incredibly clever (if he thought so himself- and he did), and actually worked as one of the windows was open enough for him to slink through before solidifying into infant form on the floor, but he admittedly hadn’t taken into account that Credence might be in the middle of something.</p><p> </p><p>Though really, he hadn’t expected that something to be staring down a strange man.</p><p> </p><p>Credence was backed up against the wall near the door, a sharp-looking knife clutched in his hand defensively. The stranger was a tall man with black hair, a dark suit and a wand clutched tightly in his right hand. He was covered in soot and crouched aggressively near the fireplace, likely where he’d somehow come out of. Harry didn’t know how, considering none of the fireplaces were linked to any floo networks (“For security reasons,” Gellert had said, and Harry half suspected it was as much to keep others out as it was to keep him and Credence in), but that didn’t really matter at this point. His back was to the window where Harry had come in, and so he only started to turn around when he spotted Credence’s eyes widening in shock and a bit of panic.</p><p> </p><p>Before either Credence or Harry could react, the stranger was shooting a quick “<em> Stupefy! </em>” and Credence was dropping to the floor like a stone.</p><p> </p><p>“No! Big bro’her!” Harry was exclaiming, and before the stranger could react to him he was using his Obscurial to rush across the floor. Harry solidified next to Credence, patting his head to chec of he was alright, and the stranger had his wand locked onto Harry.</p><p> </p><p>“What are you...?” The man half whispered, half gasped in shock. “There can’t be-”</p><p> </p><p>Before the man could say anything more, Harry started screaming and crying at the top of his lungs- which were impressively lous for his little body. With the alarm someone was bound to notice, which was proven by the distant sound of footsteps quickly sprinting up stairs. But before Harry could do anything more, the man was sending another “<em> Stupefy! </em>” at him and he was knocked out cold.</p><p> </p><p>Well, this certainly was <em> not </em> part of the plan.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Enjoy the cliffhanger until I next get motivated to write more uvu</p><p>And yes, comments DO motivate me most.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Bubbles!!! Bubbles Bubbles Bubbles Bubbles</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Harry, Master of Death and Utter Terror of Nurmengard, was very decidedly Not Pleased with the current situation.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Being kidnapped by a mysterious person, especially while in the middle of his plan to strengthen his relationship with Credence. He didn’t even know how they’d managed to get in- though, judging by the intruder’s position and soot-covered clothes, it had probably been the fireplace. The fact that the fireplace in question hadn’t actually been connected to the floo didn’t matter- Harry remembered a minor spell that the British ministry had had access to in some of his previous lives, allowing them to forcefully connect the nearest floo to a person in emergencies. In fact, he could remember it being used against him several times in one of his lives that he’d been on the run from them…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But that didn’t matter. What did matter, on the other hand, was that Harry was currently trapped in a magical bubble floating in the middle of a pitch black room. The bubble was reinforced, strongly enough that no amount of ramming into it--in his Obscurial form or otherwise--yielded any results. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Harry sank down to a gaseous puddle in the bottom of the bubble and thought very carefully. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There were several ways he could play this from here. He would have to be careful, however, as the wrong move could instigate the potentially-murderous kidnapper, or possibly kidnappers, into potentially-murderous action. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After a few minutes of thinking, Harry sat back up as a toddler and nodded decisively. This was the best course of action, the one he felt would yield the most success.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He opened his mouth and started to cry.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Loudly. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Extremely loudly.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>In fact, his crying was so loud, it would better be described as a wailing screech. The guards outside the door startled, hands clapping over their ears as they wondered what in the hell could possibly be so loud. All employees in the nearby cafeteria jumped, simultaneously dropping their food or knocking their cups over. A Banshee researcher several floors away looked up in confusion, wondering if they’d accidentally let one of the test subjects loose in the halls again, and if they could possibly get away with a lighter punishment this time. One particularly hard of hearing old wizard three floors up wondered who had left their loud baby to cry in his office. Most importantly, an employee who was trying to smuggle out several bags worth of gold and other valuable-looking magical artifacts just two hallways over tripped, spilling all the valuables out onto the floor. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Needless to say, he’d gotten their attention. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Mere seconds later and bright lights were flashing on as the door was bursting open, several people dressed in auror robes rushing in to stop the commotion. They were all very startled to find a small child the source of the noise. Several lowered their wands a bit, until one of them came to their senses and cast a quick silencing ward over the bubble. The crying cut off abruptly, leaving little Harry to cry to a thankful audience in a now quieted room. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Merlin’s nuts </span>
  </em>
  <span>that thing was loud,” Harry read from the lips of one of the aurors, and a few of the woman’s fellow employees nodded in agreement. They all had about two more seconds to relax before several more people burst into the room with the force of a mild yet very cross hurricane. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What in Morgana’s name is going on here?” A tall man barked out. He was dark haired, dark eyed, with an austere suit and imposing presence, and Harry recognized him as the one who had come through the fireplace. He quieted his crying down so he was just sobbing instead of wailing, but he still couldn’t hear anything outside the silencing ward. The man looked a bit unsettled by Harry’s crying face. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Good</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he thought a bit meanly. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The man barked out a few orders and within a few moments most of the people had vacated the room. Harry was busy mentally considering whether the man could be a werewolf--he certainly seemed to growl enough for one--when the door thudded shut ominously. It was just Harry, Dog Man, and a third, more timid looking character who stood behind him. Harry did his best to keep crying while simultaneously watching the two strangers. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The second man, the more timid one, had brown hair, a blue coat, and a normal-looking but out of place large suitcase that he clutched tightly. The two conversed quietly together for a moment (trying to figure out how to deal with a crying three-year-old that was also sometimes a giant gaseous murderball, Harry imagined) before Dog Man lowered the silencing ward around Harry. He also added a small translation charm to Harry so he would be able to speak with them (identifiable by the distinct tingling sensation in his throat that made him cough a bit), then stepped back and leaned against the wall, leaving the situation up to the other.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The timid man carefully placed his suitcase down near Dog Man so it was out of the way. He walked forwards slowly, making soothing noises at the upset toddler who was steadily lessening his crying. Harry had an idea of who he was- probably one Newt Scamander, given his past experience with Obscurials and expertise in probably everything else. Harry wasn’t going to call him that, thought. He was going to call him Timid Man. Maybe Suitcase Man. Or Scam. Maybe Noots…? He was getting off track.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Shh, shh shh,” Timid Man soothed. “It’s alright, you’re okay.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Harry wanted to laugh. Considering he was currently trapped in a small bubble- which was not as fun as </span>
  <em>
    <span>Bubble Boy </span>
  </em>
  <span>or </span>
  <em>
    <span>Meet the Robinsons</span>
  </em>
  <span> would claim- he very distinctly did </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> think he was okay. But still, he let himself quiet down further. When the timid man placed his hand on the bubble Harry glared at him as ferociously as a toddler could, but still put his hand on the bubble too.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey there,” Timid Man smiled softly, and Harry put both hands against the wall of the bubble in an attempt to help himself stand up.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Who’re you?” Harry demanded. “Where’s big bro’her?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span> Timid Man seemed saddened by the questions, but Harry wasn’t going to budge. He wasn’t the one who had been kidnapped, dammit, and Harry was very much cross about the situation.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re somewhere safe, I promise,” Timid Man said. Harry leveled him a look that said he Very Much Doubted That, which made the man hesitate a moment. “It’ll be alright. We just- have to make sure you won’t hurt anyone. You don’t want to hurt anyone, do you?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Harry shook his head slowly. In fact, despite Gellert’s main goal of having Harry as a weapon to help him win the war, he had yet to be successful in convincing him to actually hurt anything. Of course, he mostly just tried with conjured rabbits and birds so far, which Harry had protested on the grounds of “But they’re cute!” and tried to make pets of them, but still.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not mean,” He protested in a very childish manner. He was halfway to crossing his arms and pouting, actually. Dog Man almost seemed amused.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I know that. You’re a good boy, aren’t you? What’s your name?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“‘M Klinde,” Harry responded, eyeing them somewhat warily. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He opened his mouth to add something more, possibly about where his brother was, but his attention was caught by a very loud, very rude </span>
  <em>
    <span>BANG</span>
  </em>
  <span> from outside the room. This was followed by another bang, then the sounds of footsteps thudding and multiple people yelling, and before anything could be done to more secure the vault it was being torn open by a very large, very angry Ghost(?) Blender Bottle.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A Ghost(?) was a particular type of very destructive magical entity. They were known to be attached to objects or locations, and generally act like muggle ideas of aggressive ghosts. However, they could also be caused by anything, and even be something completely unrelated that just happened to look and vaguely act like a ghost.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>If you remember earlier, there was an employee trying to rob the building of valuable magical artifacts at a truly unfortunate time. This Ghost(?) in particular was haunting a blender bottle in that pile of valuable magical artifacts, and when it was knocked off and the protective casing broken, well…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>So when Harry, currently trying to figure out the best way to break out of the bubble, find Credence, and escape, saw the Ghost(?), he did the one thing you should never do to a Ghost(?):</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He stuck his tongue out at it in an extremely rude gesture. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The Ghost(?), being so outraged and offended by the child’s actions, surged into the room and slammed into the bubble to start either tearing him apart or, if that didn’t work, verbally berating the boy with all the disgust and fervor of an upset mother just finding out her son cheated on someone. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>To Harry’s delight, before either Dog Man or Timid Man managed to stop the Ghost(?) (using a fairly obscure spell Timid Man had apparently learned in the Balkans that seals the Ghost(?) inside the object for a few hours, as he explained in a bit of romantically-charged banter to Dog Man), it had already managed to tear a hole in the bubble. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That was… not ideal. Are you okay, Klinde?” Dog Man was saying, turning around only to freeze at the sight of Harry face down on the floor, having fallen flat on his face (in a very not-humiliating pose, he assured) when the bubble finally popped due to his pushing at the tear the Ghost(?) had made.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Dog Man had barely enough time to whip out his wand before Timid Man stepped forwards, hand outstretched in a reassuring gesture as if Harry was a scared animal. Well, maybe he counted as one, just a bit. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey hey, don’t do that,” Timid Man warned off Dog Man and stepped between him and Harry, focusing on Harry. “It’s alright, he’s not going to do anything, just… stay calm, okay? We’re not going to do anything to you.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Harry sat up, cocking his head to the side as if confused. He shakily pushed himself up onto his own two feet, taking a couple of wobbly steps forwards. “Where’s Cre’ence?” He said, swaying in place a little bit as he cursed himself for not getting off his butt and getting used to walking earlier. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Credence?” Timid Man shot Dog Man a look then turned back to Harry, taking a step forwards. “Here’s here, but somewhere else. He’s safe, I promise.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Harry took another step forwards, legs flickering a bit into smoke and brows furrowing with his effort to not just fully turn and spare himself the trouble. “I wanna see him. Can I see him?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Timid Man tensed again, trying to calm Harry down. “Listen, hey- why don’t you come over here and we’ll bring you to your brother, okay? Right now.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Dog Man shot Timid Man a look that he rolled his</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>eyes at, returning a look that clearly said “it’s either this or we let a toddler go ballistic and destroy the building.” Harry studiously ignored that, frowning at his legs instead.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Buh I don’ wanna walk, an’ Daddy says ’m not su’posed to cloud everywhere.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He got the distinct pleasure of watching both men flinch at him calling Grindelwald his father, then stared at Timid Man’s face as he kneeled down to eye-level.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Why don’t I carry you, hmm? As long as you promise not to… cloud anywhere outside this room. Okay?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Harry nodded (giving him a very serious pinky swear to really promise) and climbed into the waiting man’s arms. Dog Man grabbed Timid Man’s suitcase as they walked out of the room, and before long they were headed off to see Credence.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Still not part of the old plan, but this New Plan was turning out better than he’d hoped!</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1) Congrats! You get a long chapter, yay! Have an uneventful new year!<br/>2)Another definition of Ghost(?) would be “a ghost-like entity that the author didn’t want to bother looking up a basis for because it was 2 am and it’s a magic universe anyways”</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’ll be honest this thing has been sitting unfinished in my google docs for months, so any feedback, especially on the ending, would be greatly appreciated!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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